Motivated by empirical reality of differences in the scope and meaning of school choice and private schooling this article focuses on the public demand for increasing diversity of educational options In Europe and the division of public and private provision in it. We aim to test self-interest and ideology-driven logics of education policy…

This article is about shadow education in Denmark. Based on qualitative interview data with families that purchase private supplementary tutoring, we analyse how this tutoring is related to child-rearing strategies in the families. With theoretical inspiration from Annette Lareau, we analyse the parents' involvement in their children's education…

Purpose: Building on a qualitative case study of parents and tutors previously involved with a large commercial tutoring company, this article investigates experiences of private tutoring in Denmark. Design/Approach/Methods: The case study centers around an affective analysis of eight interviews--three parents and five tutors--centering on why and…

Purpose: The article focuses on the emergence of a private tutoring industry in Denmark over the last decade. Specifically, it explores how private tutoring companies legitimize themselves in a social and cultural context where education has for long predominantly been understood in egalitarian terms. Design/Approach/Methods: The article takes…

This article sheds light on the emergence of private tutoring in Denmark. Written from the perspective of a tutoring entrepreneur, it discusses the challenges and opportunities faced by a fledgling tutoring company in present-day Danish society. The article is a personal narrative of the author's experience with establishing the first major Danish…

Purpose: In the domain of shadow education (private supplementary tutoring), Denmark and China may be placed at opposite ends of a spectrum. Denmark has a recently emerged, small, and high-cost sector that mostly serves low achievers, while China has a more industrialized sector with a long history and economies of scale. The paper juxtaposes the…

Purpose: This article investigates the role of private supplementary tutoring in Denmark in light of the country's pedagogical traditions in schools and leisure spheres. Design/Approach/Methods: Although tutoring activities are increasing, the phenomenon is not as prevalent in Denmark as in many other countries. In this article, we look into the…

The concept of a Nordic model of education is sometimes used to refer to the considerable similarities of education reforms and systems of the five Nordic countries (i.e. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) during the second half of the 20th century--reforms that aimed at social justice, equality and cohesion not least by providing…

This article investigates neo-liberal policy on education in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Traditionally, the edifice of the education system in these Scandinavian countries has been built on egalitarian values, but over the last 20 years they have increasingly adopted market-led reforms of education. The extent of neo-liberal policy varies between…

In education policy, as in many other policy fields, well-designed policy reforms may fail to get enacted because policymakers may suddenly become confronted with a public backlash against their reform agenda. Thus, understanding the dynamics of public opinion is important in order to be able to assess the chances of successful reform. There is a…

Many arguments in favour of school voucher programs are based upon libertarian free agency principles. Viewed at the organizational level, allowing persons to exercise choice in education would seem to offer incentives for all educational organizations within that framework to improve overall product quality and thus more effectively obtain the…

The gross differences in scholastic achievement among public, private government-dependent, and private independent schools in 22 countries are analyzed with Programme for International Student Assessment 2000 data. In a multilevel approach, the authors estimate these sector effects, controlling for sociological characteristics of students and…

This document is an analysis of private education in the member states of the European Community, providing some insight into the exact situation of this sector of education in Europe. The strictly private sector (organized, financed, and controlled entirely by private individuals or bodies) as far as it still exists, is extremely limited.…

In a world conditioned by what Margaret Meade and others have called an underlying system of inherited inequalities, it is natural that educators in particular should try to promote at least some semblance of equality of opportunity. Because the creation of an elite of some kind seems to be a natural and unavoidable by-product of every society,…

Contends that folk (independent) high schools in Denmark have reduced the barriers between education and employment for adults who left school early. Claims that independent schools embody the principles of open education. Examines the current reform work taking place in adult education. Assesses the establishment of self-administration and…